Saudi 'hostage' situation not the first time pro wrestling has tripped over ethics

Vince McMahon's WWE has a reputation for sketchy storylines, like the time Trish Stratus was made to 'get down on all fours' and 'bark like a dog'

The world of professional wrestling operates like a violent soap opera — performers, good and evil, face off in pre-determined storylines — but being stranded in Saudi Arabia like “hostages” wasn’t on the script.

Reports of talent being unable to fly out of the kingdom due to payment disputes between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Vince McMahon, owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), emerged on Oct. 31.

The alleged spat left athletes stranded for more than 24 hours, with many venting on social media, while others apparently said they “couldn’t wait to get out of this company.”

While WWE insists the delays were solely caused by plane issues, it hasn’t done much to calm strained nerves.

Organizing Crown Jewel was controversial because it followed the widely condemned slaying in 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in addition to a previous Saudi ban on the WWE women’s division and Canadian pro-wrestler Sami Zayn, who is of Syrian descent.

A number of the company’s athletes also boycotted the other two shows, including top stars such as John Cena.

But this isn’t the first time WWE’s ethics have caused outrage. Here are five other trip-ups:

‘People like us’

At the end of 2004, American Italian pro-wrestler Marc Copani made his company debut under the moniker Muhammad Hassan. His character despised U.S. citizens and troops for the prejudicial views and stereotypes they adopted after the September 11 attacks.

“People like us are the real victims of this war … that promotes the unfair treatment of Arab-Americans,” he said in his first TV appearance.

Hassan eventually feuded with The Undertaker, a beloved wrestling legend. But the rivalry didn’t last.

On July 4, 2005, the Undertaker beat Hassan’s accomplice, Daivari, with relative ease. After the match, Hassan dropped to his knees and spread his arms out in prayer, summoning a group of camouflage-clad masked men who beat and strangled Undertaker. The group then carried Daivari over their heads, symbolizing a martyr’s death.

Three days later, the episode aired — the same day as the London bombings, a terrorist attack that killed 52 people and wounded more than 700 others.

While the company apologized for the timing and tried to explain that the character was meant to debunk stereotypes, McMahon nixed the character and eventually released Copani from his contract and he retired from the pro-wrestling.

“The real problem is the perception of viewers watching that segment,” Gary Davis, a WWE spokesperson, told the New York Times.

A group of men strangle and beat the Undertaker after Muhammad Hassan summoned them to the ring.WWE / YouTube

‘Bark like a dog’

McMahon’s depiction of women in the program has also been controversial, with an infamous incident involving Toronto native Trish Stratus.

In this 2001 storyline, McMahon was getting a divorce from his real-life wife, Linda McMahon. To humiliate his wife, the CEO put himself in a romantic relationship with Stratus, routinely making out in front of Linda, who was forced to watch due to her ‘medically induced coma’.

The narrative became even more unsettling when McMahon decided to test Stratus’ loyalty.

During a segment when both characters were in the ring, the owner of the company commanded Stratus to “get down on all fours” and “bark like a dog” in the middle of the wrestling ring. After she stood up, McMahon forced Stratus to strip off her clothes and remove her bra, to the crowd’s delight.

Crown Jewel did feature the first women’s wrestling match with Canadian star Natalya after the kingdom lifted its ban on female performers and a previous apology to the audience for a commercial of WWE women’s division that aired during the first event two years prior, calling it “indecent material.”

Trish Stratus and fellow pro wrestler Chris Jericho at the Much Music Video Awards in Toronto, June 22, 2003.Postmedia file photo

‘This is not for the squeamish’

In 2002, Kane, a masked monster-like wrestler, feuded with Triple H for a championship match. Building up to their clash, Triple H claimed his opponent has an unrequited love for a woman named Katie Vick. When Vick ‘died in a car crash’, Triple H said Kane made love with her corpse, threatening to show footage of the act.

“I’ve got to warn you, this is not for the squeamish — roll the footage,” he said, before the tape was revealed.

The video showed Triple H dressed as Kane (also nicknamed “the big, red machine” at the time) in a funeral home, fondling and eventually making love to a mannequin lying in a casket. Kane responded by revealing what appeared to be footage of Triple H receiving an enema.

WWE quietly buried the angle after fans didn’t respond well.

Triple H, dressed as his rival, Kane, getting intimate with a mannequin in a coffin.

‘The Montreal Screwjob’

On Nov. 9, 1997, a world championship match between Canadian wrestling legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels transformed the industry.

The match, in Montreal, was a culmination of a rivalry that was just as tense off-camera. Both stars had inflated egos and Hart, the champion, was leaving to join another wrestling promotion. Twenty minutes into the match, Michaels locked Hart into his own patented Sharpshooter submission. Moments later, the referee rang the bell, ending the match and promptly leaving the ring.

Hart was confused. He never tapped out, and would never do so to his own signature move. But then he realized this was the plan all along — he just wasn’t a part of it.

Amid Hart’s refusal to lose in Canada and fears he would trivialize the WWE championship while at the other promotion, McMahon double-crossed Hart in real life, by keeping the finish a secret, now known as “The Montreal Screwjob.”

Realizing what happened, Hart went into a rampage, spitting on his boss, who watched the plan unfold at ringside, and destroying equipment around the ring, before knocking McMahon out backstage.

The match led fans to hate McMahon to such a degree it spawned his on-screen persona — the same one who made Stratus bark like a dog.

While most stars walk into the ring, Hart’s shtick had him lowered into the ring from the top of the arena — a move he would try during 1998’s Over The Edge live pay-per-view event.

Owen Hart stood on the rafters, more than 70 feet above the ring, set to begin his descent. But as his feet left the platform, his harness released. Hart plunged, crashing chest-first on to the top rope, narrowly missing one of the corners of the ring.

The cameras, still rolling, panned to the audience as first responders rushed to the ring to administer CPR before sending Hart to the hospital, where he died.

After a still 15 minutes, McMahon reportedly said “the show must go on,” and within seconds of learning their friend had died, the ringside announcers informed the television audience of Hart’s death and continued the event.

The live crowd had to find out for themselves.

Owen Hart died at 33 years old after a fatal plunge during a live pay-per-view event.Postmedia

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